The McPaul family had lost another "champion bloke", Brayden McPaul said.

"We are all shattered and can't believe that it is really true," he posted online.

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'We are all shattered and can't believe that it is really true.'

"Sam, you will be truly missed and have gone down a hero trying to save the things you care about."

Jen Hyde said she was absolutely devastated.

"Still cannot believe it, you were just at my house on Sunday holding my Olly and giving me hugs," she said.

Glenn McLeod remembered his "dearest friend" by posting a photo of the pair at Mr McPaul's wedding, saying Mr McPaul was due to come around for a New Year's Eve roast.

"I can't believe you're gone," he said.

'Hearts breaking'

An emotional Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons on Tuesday said "hearts were breaking" at the RFS for the McPaul family.

"I don't think the comprehension has set in yet, of the enormity of the tragedy and the loss," Mr Fitzsimmons told reporters.

Another man, aged 72, in Belowra is feared dead but the NSW Rural Fire Service on Tuesday evening said it was having a "great deal of difficulty" getting into the remote location 50km north of Cobargo.

McPaul is the third NSW volunteer firefighter to die this bushfire season.